Exe Valley Fishery Catch Reports & News

With the snow melting fast outside it seems like a good time to show some of the stunning fish that anglers at Exe Valley have been catching. The cold spell has far from slowed the fishing with anglers having great success on a variety of flies and tactics. The fish are in great condition & fighting hard.

Winter fishing on Anchor Lake

Ben Cheeld was our first angler to receive his free permit on the Winter Fishing Permit Offer and chose our very popular Catch & Release ticket. He caught 7 fish – 4 on a White Lure and 3 on a Chewing Gum Bloodworm.

Ben Cheeld fishing on his free Catch & Release ticket

John Ratcliffe from Exmouth visited on a very cold day and used a variety of different patterns and depths with a slow retrieve. He caught all six of his fish including a lovely Blue Trout.

John Ratcliffe with his lovely Blue Trout

Colin Nice from Exeter visited with a friend during last week and enjoyed bacon rolls on arrival & soup by the lake for lunch - available from our pre-order menu. Colin caught 6 fish including a nice 4lb Rainbow Trout. Colin said “Very good - enjoyable all aspects. All fish on small flies P.T.N, D.B, Bloody William & floating line – 6”-12” down.”

Colin with one of his Rainbow Trout from Anchor Lake

On the same day Andy Dade from Berrow visited and caught 4 fish including a cracking 6lb 1oz Rainbow Trout noting “Good day again, all fish on Apps Bloodworm. Deep and slow retrieve” A few days later however Andy returned to Anchor Lake and landed a stunning 12lb 2oz Rainbow Trout using an Apps Bloodworm on a floating line. This Rainbow was Andys personal best Rainbow Trout – well done Andy!

Andy Dade with his personal best 12lb 2oz Rainbow Trout

Anchor Lake Tactics

Over the last week a really wide variety of tactics and flies have been working but with one common theme that is the retrieve needs to be slow. The fish have been higher in the water than expected considering the temperature at around 3 foot and many fish are sitting no more than 6-8ft from the bank. There was a thin layer of ice about halfway over the lake but that soon went when the sun came out.

Thin layer of ice over Anchor Lake

Grayling Fishing

We are lucky enough to have the River Exe running alongside the fishery and on Saturday Nick ventured out in the snow with a friend for some great Winter Grayling fishing. A slight change from his London life! If you are interested in using the beat then day tickets can be purchased from Sue.

Grayling fishing on the River Exe

Beautiful River Exe Grayling.

Fishery Notice

Due to ongoing problems and having received complaints by members of the public we have made the decision that we can no longer welcome dogs (other than assistance dogs) to Exe Valley Fishery. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

It is hard to believe that we are over halfway through January already. Even with the colder wintery weather it has been lovely to welcome so many anglers both regular visitors and some that haven’t fished since early 2018. We have also announced the date for the Troutmasters competition (more information below).

With the weather being a bit cooler this week the fish have been sitting a little deeper at around 5 foot however on Thursday the sun warmed the lake quickly and by mid-morning the fish were happily cruising just below the surface. Most people are continuing to use floating lines although with the cold spell forecast it may be worth using an intermediate line.

Paul Dickens from Bristol making the most of the sun warming the water on Thursday

Popular flies this week have been Orange Blob & Damsel patterns, but by far the most successful again this week have been Bloodworm patterns. Jonathan Moore from Exeter hasn’t fished at Exe Valley Fishery for over 6 months but took full advantage of the very popular Catch & Release ticket and caught all six of his fish on Bloodworm patterns. Also caught on a Bloodworm was a 9lb Rainbow Trout weighed in by Simon Metters from Exeter.

The trout in Anchor Lake don’t seem to be able to resist these Bloodworm patterns

Troutmasters

Congratulations to all the anglers that have qualified for the Troutmasters competition. We have now set the competition date as Sunday 14th April 2019 You will receive the details from Trout Fisherman direct so if you can let me know whether you are able to make the competition or not as it helps with the planning. There will be a full briefing before the match starts and bacon rolls will be available on the day. We are really pleased to be able to continue with this competition in 2019.

Exe Valley Fishery will be holding their Troutmasters competition on Sunday 14th April 2019

Pre Order Menu

As mentioned in last week’s post I now have a small pre order menu available.If you would like to order anything or would like something different then please contact me and I will do my best to help.

Exe Valley Fishery Winter Pre-Order Menu

(Available until 28th February 2019)

Bacon Roll - £2.50

Sandwiches - £3.00 (Selection of fillings available)

Bowl of Soup & Roll - £2.50

Cup a soup - £1.50

2 x Slices Hot Buttered Toast - £1.00

2 x Buttered Crumpets - £1.25

Toasted Teacake - £1.25

Tea & Coffee – donations in to the charity box

Thank you for taking the time to read the report and I hope to welcome you to the fishery soon.

Happy New Year to all of our customers. We have been busy at Exe Valley Fishery since the start of the year including welcoming many anglers making the most of the lovely winter weather, the permit offer started on the 27th December 2018 and maintenance work has been carried out on Lobbs Lake.

Anchor Lake looking stunning in the New Year

Anchor Lake

Anchor Lake has started 2019 in glorious style with more beautiful sun rises and producing some stunning fish. John Gilmore from Willand caught five cracking fish and also released four fish with his heaviest fish weighing in at around 6 1/2 lbs. John said 'Great day again Sue. Very good quality and hard fighting fish'. John was joined by four other anglers and between them had 26 fish making an average of over 5 fish per person.

John Gilmore with one of his 9 hard fighting Rainbow Trout from Anchor Lake

Ben Cheeld has continued his success. On his recent visit he caught 8 fish up to 7lb and is currently on his third permit on the new permit offer (more details below).

Ben Cheeld playing another Rainbow Trout on Anchor Lake……….

……..and landing this lovely Anchor Lake Rainbow Trout which was returned safely

The ladies didn’t miss out on the action either with Jane Young catching three stunning Rainbow Trout on a Hot Head Cats Whisker with legs.

Jane Young enjoying a beautiful winters day fishing on Anchor Lake

Tactics & Flies

With the colder weather early in the morning the fish have been sitting deeper in the water at a depth of around 4-5ft. As the sun warms the water by midday they have risen through the levels. The flies of choice that have been working well are Apps Bloodworm, White & Orange Blobs, Black Lures or Damsel patterns.

Lobbs Lake

It hasn't gone unnoticed by some of our regular visitors that Lobbs Lake seems to yo-yo between being empty and then full of water. I promise this isn't as a result of me changing my mind each day but in fact the maintenance required so that it can become a fishing lake once again. Thanks to Nick and Blair Woodland (and a small amount of rake pulling by myself - there is evidence!) New Years Eve was Lobbs Lake clearance day with an extraordinary amount of weed removed. The pictures of the lake transforming through the day are incredible. Lobbs Lake is now refilled and ready for its relaunch in the Spring.

Blair looking at the task ahead ……….

……..about half way through the day!!…………….

……..and the final netting……

…… and finally Lobbs Lake looking beautiful after the weed removal

Winter Permit Offer

We have been thrilled by the number of anglers taking up the Winter Permit Offer and are keen to see which angler earns the first free permit. Full details below.

WINTER PERMIT OFFER - Buy 4 permits and have your 5th outing on us!

Don't forget our Winter Permit Offer starts on the 27th December 2018

We are pleased to be able to announce a Winter Fishing Permit Offer *(subject to T&Cs) to those of you who would like to support the fishery when the fishing is great … but the weather isn’t the most pleasant!

From Thursday 27th December 2018 to Sunday 31st March 2019 inclusive BUY 4 PERMITS & GET THE 5th PERMIT - FREE!!! You are free to choose whatever 5th permit you like … the deal is you must visit and pay for 4 full price permits within the allotted time published above, that’s it!

* Terms & Conditions 1) Pre-paid gift voucher permits DO NOT qualify for this offer. 2) All permits MUST be completed in full to register as a visit. 3) Return slips MUST be completed at the end of each session to register as a visit. 4) A permit purchased and not matched to a return slip will not be counted. 5) ONE FREE PERMIT of the anglers choice (C&R, 2, 3, 4 or 5 fish) will be issued after 4 full price visits subject to the T&Cs 6) The FREE permit will be valid for one visit only which must be taken by 30th April 2019 7) This offer can be enjoyed more than once between 27/12/18 & 31/03/19 - e.g. Fish 8 times and receive 2 FREE PERMITS 8) The FREE permit is non-transferable and has no cash value.

Pre Order Food

I have been asked several times about bacon rolls/food since Christmas and am pleased to say that I am now offering a small pre-order menu through out the winter opening hours. If you are planning a trip to Exe Valley Fishery and would like something from the menu on arrival or during the day then please contact me to organise.

Many thanks for reading this post and I hope to welcome you to the fishery soon. A reminder of our Winter opening times are below.

We hope you had a great Christmas! Following the festivities a total of 38 anglers visited the shores of Exe Valley this week, catching 141 fish between them for a rod average of 3.7

Top rod was Blair Woodland from South Devon with 12 fish. Blair regularly fishes the lakes during the winter and found most of his success using Blobs and also moved around the lake to find fish. Ben Cheeld from Taunton also had a great bag of 9 on his second visit of the week, following a catch of 4 a few days before.

Best flies are Blobs, Blue Flash Damsels & Buzzers and during the mild temperatures a floater has been just about all thats needed although if the sport slows, try counting down your flies for longer or swap to a slow sinker. Best areas have been in the upper half of the lake, especially near the outflow and on the point, although fish are being caught all around Anchor Lake.

Here are a selection of the catches from this week. Thanks to all those who visited, we hope to see you again soon and have a very Happy New Year!

Sue & Nick

Eliot Hector from Taunton with a fish caught & released on a Fritz during Christmas week.

Peter Brittain with a nice Blue Trout for the pan!

Regular Exe Valley angler Blair Woodland from South Devon put his Blobs to good use, fished with a variety of retrieves in various locations around the lake. He finished the day on 12 fish.

Peter Hart from Kingsteignton looking very pleased with his bag of 3 including a Blue Trout. Peter went on to enjoy some catch and release having reached his limit.

Ben Cheeld from Taunton with a beautiful silver fish caught using a floating line and static nymph, he added 3 more to his total (all released) and fished another session on 30/12/18, banking another 9 fish, this time using a New Zealand dropper set up leaving the comment “Cracking Day!”

Father & son team Chris & Shaun Ley travelled from Barnstaple and in their words had a “fantastic day in a fantastic setting with fantastic fish!” Thank you for visiting guys, we are pleased you had a good day and hope to see you again soon!

There are plenty more fish to upload but with New Year on the horizon we will leave you with some scenes from Exe Valley this week and to use Shauns words, it has been fantastic to see so many of you visiting.